I’m having my lunch and watching a solitary magpie fuss about in the heather before it appears with a silvery squiggle in its mouth. The magpie flicks its head vigorously from side to side in a little blur of energy while the shining squiggle contorts into different shapes. Surely that strategy doesn’t work to tryContinue reading “SWCP: Carn Naun Point to Higher Burthallan September 25th”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
SWCP – Carbis Bay to Lelant September 26th 2023
I wake at 7 to the sound of excited shouts. It’s those first few seconds of waking – rising to the surface of consciousness- that I always find intriguing: the not knowing where I am and then the feel of cold air on my face and the sudden reminder that I am enshrouded in myContinue reading “SWCP – Carbis Bay to Lelant September 26th 2023”
SWCP St Ives to Carbis Bay September 25th
I’ve been thinking a lot about walking slowly over the summer. I was walking the Monarch’s way. I was walking in the Pindos mountains in Northern Greece (to the bottom of the Vikos Gorge, the steepest gorge in the world) and just walking daily around Dorset, Somerset, Bristol or Suffolk. On one of these walksContinue reading “SWCP St Ives to Carbis Bay September 25th”
The Monarch’s Way, Chideock May 31st 2023
Strictly speaking, I’m not on The Monarch’s Way but have come off it to return to my car and to spend some time in the company of a gem of a place hidden off a lane in south Dorset. In my mind I still have images of giant wild boar, hidden cathedrals and coffin bearersContinue reading “The Monarch’s Way, Chideock May 31st 2023”
The Monarch’s Way Axen Farm to North Chideock May 31st 2023
I’ve climbed the hill the other side of Bilshay Farm. I can just about see the place where I got lost in the sound of the beech leaves, the place with the figure floating through the field. I am walking west in a big loop as Charles II did after his attempt to get onContinue reading “The Monarch’s Way Axen Farm to North Chideock May 31st 2023”
Monarch’s Way Pilsdon to Broadwindsor July 16th
Today is a Sunday and I am at Pilsdon Church just a few miles north of the Marshwood Vale and Chideock where I stopped in May. Since then I did a tramp at the end of June and slept out in a hollow under some trees overlooking Ryall while it rained as the last lightContinue reading “Monarch’s Way Pilsdon to Broadwindsor July 16th”
Monarch’s Way Bridport to North Chideock May 31st 2023
I’m two hours outside Bridport making my way around Dottery. It’s hard going. It’s overcast and there’s been a cold northerly blowing since I started yesterday. I did well to shelter from it last night although sometimes it found me out and felt its way into my sleeping bag and around my neck. I wokeContinue reading “Monarch’s Way Bridport to North Chideock May 31st 2023”
Monarch’s Way Bridport to Chideock May 31st 2023
I wake up thinking I’m in bed but feel a dull ache in my shoulder which can only be from lying on the ground. Then I hear the cacophony of birdsong: jackdaws, pigeons, blue tits and blackbirds. A great enthusiastic greeting to the morning. And then the roar of a lorry. I’m next to aContinue reading “Monarch’s Way Bridport to Chideock May 31st 2023”
SWCP – Zennor. February 13th.
It’s February half term and I’m back in Cornwall, back on the coast path. I’m staying at The Tinners Arms pub in Zennor in a little room next to a dead end lane which looks directly onto the small, squat tower of the church and an ancient wall made of great blocks of granite soContinue reading “SWCP – Zennor. February 13th.”
Night Walks Clifton December 15th
It is minus 2 and going to drop to minus 6 later tonight. It’s clear and the stars flicker at me up above. Am I feeling Christmasy yet? Well I haven’t done any shopping yet but that’s normal. The roofs of the cars glitter on Pembroke Road. Ice meanders across a bonnet like the metalContinue reading “Night Walks Clifton December 15th”
Curry Rivel December 7th
The day is clear, cold and bright. Marie drops off a truck load of wood from Wiltown Farm and we talk about the cold and the rising price of everything including the wood. She has three hundred sheep now. The price of a lamb has gone up from £70 to £150 but so has theContinue reading “Curry Rivel December 7th”
Night Walks, Clifton Nov 17th
The air is cooler now and out with the scarf and hat for the first time in six months. Yes, the air has more of a bite as I step onto Pembroke Road. The leaves – crisp and beige like parcel paper – scuttle along the pavement. They mass into drifts that gather under theContinue reading “Night Walks, Clifton Nov 17th”
Night Walks Clifton November 9th
In the village for the turning on of the Christmas lights. Someone says a melodramatic prayer and the lady Lord Mayor makes a speech. Isn’t it all a bit early? I like Christmas but not if I’m bashed over the head with it everyday for two months. Bah! It’s buzzing tonight. Little pockets of mostlyContinue reading “Night Walks Clifton November 9th”
Night Walks Clifton to Portland Square November 1st 2022
There’s a sheen on Pembroke Road. Cars splash past and the electric squeal of Voi scooters whistle along at their fixed limit of 10 mph. On Oakfield Road a family of pumpkins, their crooked smiles forlorn after the revelry of last night, stare from their place on a low wall. The beeches are still inContinue reading “Night Walks Clifton to Portland Square November 1st 2022”
Night Walks Clifton October 21st
Going to The Christmas Steps to meet a friend of a friend. The wind is fresh – truly autumnal – and there’s been a sprinkling of rain on the streets. The leaves are still mostly on their branches. On Oakfiekd Road the copper beeches whisper to each other like waves as the clouds scud overContinue reading “Night Walks Clifton October 21st”
Night Walks. Clifton Oct 12th
It’s relatively mild outside the flat. There’s a moist stillness in the air. A three quarter moon bangs over Buckingham Vale blurred by a veil of cloud. the road is unusually quiet for a city. A car passes vaguely like an old memory. Someone laughs somewhere. The first yellow leaves are under the apple tree.Continue reading “Night Walks. Clifton Oct 12th”
Tramping Diaries. SWCP, Porthcurno October 24th 2021
Even by Cornish standards Porthcurno beach is magnificent. To the coastal tramper approaching from the east the land is flat. The sea is a steadfast companion on the left. Grassland undulates and curves inland. Like the beautiful curve at the bottom of the back of someone I know. Grass is bright. Rocks protrude in clusters.Continue reading “Tramping Diaries. SWCP, Porthcurno October 24th 2021”
Tramping Diaries. SWCP Penberth to Porthcurno. October 24th 2021.
I am back at Penberth looking at the same lines of fishing boats that I saw in September. It’s a Saturday. En route from Somerset I stopped at Launceston where the rain fell in diagonal lines while people scuttled from their cars to shops and back again. Here, in the same county, it could beContinue reading “Tramping Diaries. SWCP Penberth to Porthcurno. October 24th 2021.”
Why tramp?
It’s a cliche to say how the last year has made us re-evaluate how we live our lives. We’ve had to. I wonder and hope that walking might have taken root in many people’s lives and into their consciousness. From inner cities to small towns to villages and remote areas it was our only release:Continue reading “Why tramp?”
Knowle St Giles and Cricket Malharbie April 25th 2021
Dressed in wellies with a hoe nestled in the crook of his arm, Audrey’s Moss Man had started to fade. Sitting in a deckchair he was made out of moss and grass divots taken from Cricket Malharbie churchyard. He was huddled forward amongst the gravestones. His beard was made of weeds and had turned toContinue reading “Knowle St Giles and Cricket Malharbie April 25th 2021”
The Slow Walker 